Question BIOS is nonexistent, I can’t boot to it and have no idea what is going on. Please help

[DalHowHug]

I was trying to upgrade my cpu from a ryzen 5 3600 to a ryzen 7 5700x3d and it wouldn’t work. I then just reinstalled the old cpu and it worked fine, the whole time my motherboard never prompted for bios input and would go straight to windows. I have an MSI b450 tomahawk motherboard. I have had bios in the past but I believe I enabled fast boot and haven’t seen it since. I tried to reset cmos, remove all boot drives, and even the windows advanced restart option to get to Uefi firmware and nothing worked but the computer would still boot to windows though. Then I decided to try to get to the bios by removing ram, thus prompting the bios with the ram change and fix it like that. Now I can’t boot ANYTHING. I get nothing. I’m so lost and frustrated any help is appreciated

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I then just reinstalled the old cpu and it worked fine, the whole time my motherboard never prompted for bios input and would go straight to windows.
This would be an indication that your BIOS on the motherboard might be compromised. You might want to see if flashing the BIOS with the Flash BIOS button on the rear helps revive the platform. You can use this guide;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArPoRPecZ_s

to aid you with the BIOS flashing process. FYI, the board might be different but the principle remains the same.

As for clearing the CMOS, ideally you disconnect from the wall and display, then remove the CMOS battery, then press and hold down the power button for 30secs to drain any residual power then replace the CMOS battery after 30mins.

 

[DalHowHug]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I then just reinstalled the old cpu and it worked fine, the whole time my motherboard never prompted for bios input and would go straight to windows.
This would be an indication that your BIOS on the motherboard might be compromised. You might want to see if flashing the BIOS with the Flash BIOS button on the rear helps revive the platform. You can use this guide;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArPoRPecZ_s

to aid you with the BIOS flashing process. FYI, the board might be different but the principle remains the same.

As for clearing the CMOS, ideally you disconnect from the wall and display, then remove the CMOS battery, then press and hold down the power button for 30secs to drain any residual power then replace the CMOS battery after 30mins.

I just flashed it and I can now boot but I have no bios still, it didn’t prompt me for it when I started the tower. I even did the advanced reboot in the recovery section of windows and had it restart in the uefi firmware and I get nothing

 

[DalHowHug]

I have had an issue where I send the bios key on startup multiple times like spam and it brings me to the same blank state. I’m also not using a standard monitor. I use tvs and when they sense a connection they react and display. When I go to bios or try to rather, they don’t react but the tower is still running like it’s doing something

Edit: To clarify, I have seen the bios before. I know it worked at one point but after I changed some settings, particularly fast boot as far as I know. It stopped and I can’t get it to boot at all

 

[Colif]

If all you get is a blank screen, it could be the display you using isn't what the PC is outputting to, have you tried other outputs on GPU?

 

[DalHowHug]

If all you get is a blank screen, it could be the display you using isn't what the PC is outputting to, have you tried other outputs on GPU?

I now boot to windows and when I do, I get display, I have two monitors and both have display from the computer. Like I said in the main post, the tv monitors I use will sense a connection and react instead of saying hdmi1. When I boot to windows it does this and I can see my desktop. When I try for bios it doesn’t react at all

 

[CountMike]

I now boot to windows and when I do, I get display, I have two monitors and both have display from the computer. Like I said in the main post, the tv monitors I use will sense a connection and react instead of saying hdmi1. When I boot to windows it does this and I can see my desktop. When I try for bios it doesn’t react at all

https://www.windowscentral.com/soft...w-to-enter-uefi-on-devices-running-windows-11

 

[steveb1976]

hi if the bio flash worked and you can get into windows but not bios.. then you can simply turn on the pc.. "clear cmos" wait 30 seconds and then "power on" hitting the "delete" or "f2" keys an it will go into bios .. as it re-set it.

 

[Colif]

When I try for bios it doesn’t react at all

what I mean is the display that is set in bios to show the bios isn't one of the two screens you are using. Windows obviously loads a driver that sees them. But the bios is set to use another output.

Or it can't show an image on the TV until windows loads.

resetting bios won't help if its outputting to a connection you aren't using.
When he flashed the bios it would have reset it anyway

what GPU are you using since CPU doesn't have an IGPU, it must be using one of its connections
If TV's attached via HDMI, its possible bios image being outputted to Display Port.

Manual: https://download-2.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7C02v1.4-GSE-LITE.pdf

 

[DalHowHug]

hi if the bio flash worked and you can get into windows but not bios.. then you can simply turn on the pc.. "clear cmos" wait 30 seconds and then "power on" hitting the "delete" or "f2" keys an it will go into bios .. as it re-set it.

I tried that initially but didn’t get anything, everything now works, not sure what fixed it but I have no issues getting to bios now

 

[DalHowHug]

what I mean is the display that is set in bios to show the bios isn't one of the two screens you are using. Windows obviously loads a driver that sees them. But the bios is set to use another display.

Or it can't show an image on the TV until windows loads.

resetting bios won't help if its outputting to a connection you aren't using.
When he flashed the bios it would have reset it anyway

what GPU are you using since CPU doesn't have an IGPU, it must be using one of its connections
If TV's attached via HDMI, its possible bios image being outputted to Display Port.

Manual: https://download-2.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7C02v1.4-GSE-LITE.pdf

I did have another tv connected to it, you have a point. Everything is now working, I’m not sure what fixed it or what was causing it but it might’ve used the tv that was in the other room, turned off.

Thanks though

 

[steveb1976]

if you can get into windows. then then you should be able to access bios.. as it would have reset after you did bios update.,but if not you can try clearing cmos and see. .
if not you have 2 other ways to enter bios.

1, use win 10/11 usb stick.. but this might not work as you would need to hit f12 when pc boots up.. (if the delete or f2 options are not working to get into bios this wont work). if it works then just click on repair pc. and advance and choose the "boot into UEFI bios". .

2.is a longer more compolicated way. and would need you to be able to get into windows itself

 

[Colif]

I did have another tv connected to it, you have a point. Everything is now working, I’m not sure what fixed it or what was causing it but it might’ve used the tv that was in the other room, turned off.

That could be it, its got an order it searches for displays

For the most of the discrete graphic cards, the priority is the following:
VGA -> DVI -> HDMI -> DP

I guess within its each category it might save an order. Might want to experiment next time and have someone watch that TV in other room when you start PC.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/how-to-change-the-default-and-secundaire-monitor.372344/